This course introduces major world religions and the scholarly methods of the academic study of religion. Religions covered may include Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and/or New Religious Movements. Meets New Mexico General Education Curriculum Area 5: Humanities.

Introduces students to how people’s religious beliefs and practices influence their perspectives on health and their approaches to medical care and treatment. In units arranged by religion or region (North American indigenous religion, African religion, Hinduism, Chinese religion, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), students will learn how religious beliefs and practices relate to rites of passage, sexuality, women’s health, diet, mental health, trauma, and end of life issues. In addition to assessing students’ knowledge of the relationship between religion and perspectives on health and medical care and treatment, course assignments will raise students awareness of how people with different worldviews interact. Course requirements or activities also will teach them how to evaluate their own biases and how to assess the biases and credibility of various sources of information about religion, health, and medicine found on the Internet and elsewhere.

Provides an academic overview of major religious traditions of Asia (mainly India, China, and Japan), which may include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, and/or Shamanism as well as popular, tribal, or new religions. Students will be assigned both primary and secondary texts. Meets New Mexico General Education Curriculum Area 5: Humanities.

This is a survey course that will cover major religious traditions of the West, including the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and other religious systems. The course will focus on how each tradition has developed historically and how it exists in the world today. Meets New Mexico General Education Curriculum Area 5: Humanities.

This course examines the life and role of the Prophet Muhammad, the message of the Qur'an, and the history of the theological, philosophical, legal, and mystical dimensions of Islam to the present.

(Also offered as CLST 319) This course examines issues pertaining to gender and sexuality in ancient Mediterranean religions and cultures, with special attention paid to Greco-Roman religion, Judaism, and Christianity.

(Also offered as CLST 320) This course examines the perception and reality of magic in the ancient Mediterranean world by examining relevant texts, spells, and relics to situate it within the practice of ancient religion.

Studies in major religious figures or movements. Topic varies.

An examination and critique of influential 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century scientific attempts to explain religion in contrast to supernaturalist theories. Also considered are some postmodernist and evolutionary psychology perspectives on religion. Prerequisite: one upper-division course in Religious Studies.

(Also offered as ITAL *475) Principally the Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy.

Faculty-supervised individual study in an area of special interest not readily available through conventional course offerings. Restriction: permission of program chairperson.

Tutorial arrangement with a member of the graduate faculty.